Long over due... I know

But I have a VERY valid excuse... I'm trying to adjust to going back to work :) See, very valid!!! As most of you know, I went back to work on the 5th and it's been great! I've enjoyed having the 'structure' back in my life and not sitting around the house wondering what do do next. I'm very OCD and you can only clean your house so much before you run out of things to clean on a daily basis and I don't cook so that's out of the question :) SO, it was great to go back to work to fill my days.

The first day was a little tough dropping off Samantha, but she did great and knowing that has made it easy to drop her off and go to work with ease. She stays at the Jewish Community Center around the corner from my office, so I can go and visit her during my lunch break when I need those extra cuddles from her during the day (and what mommy doesn't!) I was prepared for a bunch of sleepless nights that first week as Miss Samantha adjusted to a new schedule, but she has been FABULOUS! Here is a rundown of her new schedule: (for those of you who might get ill - stop reading now!) wakeup at 6:30am, get dressed and fed. Hang out with mommy and daddy until time to leave the house at 7. Back asleep in the car at 7. Sleep at daycare until they wake me up at 12. Eat lunch, take 30-45 minute nap then play time with all my new friends, nap, mid-day snack around 4. Mommy comes to get me around 5:30. Asleep on the car ride home and I sleep until about 7. Hang out in my vibrating chair until 8 when it's time to get into my pjs and eat dinner and take my medicine. Hang out and play with the family until 10, when mommy & daddy give me and extra 4oz of food before bedtime. Then off to bed for me where I sleep all time long in my crib. :)

Gregg and I do have a trick to her sleeping all night - she sleeps in her car seat! We think it's due to her acid refulx that she likes to sleep in the seat, but like the dr. said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! This child definately has my sleep pattern... on the weekends, she will sleep anywhere from 10-11hrs during the night and then want to take a nap shortly after her feeding :) Like mother like child.

I have to count our blessings as Miss Samantha has been in daycare for 2 weeks now and has not gotten sick at ALL... knock on wood. I contribute this to Gregg and I giving her the daily dose of vitamins and her being in a small daycare (she is one of 8 kiddos). The ladies at daycare are so great with her, we couldn't ask for a better envirionment for Samantha to be in.

Things are going good and I truly live for the weekends now whene I can spend time hanging out with that sweet little girl watching her grow and just being in total amazment as to how much she has overcome in her short life. She amazes me each and every day...

Hope you all are doing well and surviving the cold weather
Love and miss you all -
The Kimmers

Samantha's smile

It's this smile that makes me, in turn, smile very wide. Thank God we have such a happy & healthy baby...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sorry for the delay in blogging! It's been hectic with the holidays, family in town, trying to get Samantha back on her schedule, getting the house cleaned up and here we are at the New Year.
As most of you can probably tell, Kimmer did the last post on here. What is it with men and not giving any detail? Men just want to get right to the point and women want you to know the details :) At any rate - we had a wonderful Christmas with Samantha she got some great things, but not too much as we don't want to start the spoiling process early (nor did I want to be unwrapping her gifts all day). Gregg and I got her a personalized growth chart for her room that is too cute, she also got a couple of toys and some clothes...

Our Future Tiger


Samantha's Growth Chart

I've talked to a couple of you since the holidays - but wanted to let the rest of you know that the meals turned out GREAT! For Christmas Eve dinner, I made a black pepper crusted prime rib with baked potatoes and all the trimmings, broccoli, carrots, and rolls... red velvet cake for dessert.



Christmas morning I made breakfast - nothing too fancy or time consuming, but a nice breakfast of an egg dish with sausage, cheese, apples and some spices along with some cinnamon rolls... and mimosas :-)
For dinner I made a Orange Marmalade glazed turkey, oven roasted potatoes, citrus sweet potatoes rounds, dressing, cranberry sauce, green beans, rolls and gravy. Everything turned out great, but the only problem was that the oven was so full of stuff and it's 8 years old so we didn't end up eating until 9ish that night! SO, I just kept the family's cocktail glasses full until I could serve dinner and that seemed to work just fine :) :)



Samantha starts daycare on Monday and although a part of me is looking forward to it, the other part of me is dreading it because there are parts of my day with her that I will miss. We have this routine in the mornings after she eats, that I go get my coffee, come back to bed, lay her on my chest and I either watch tv or goof off on the computer while she sleeps on my chest for awhile. It's a great way for me to start my days and I will miss that - but I will get to look forward to that on the weekends. I was telling Gregg and even though we have researched daycare centers and are putting her in a great place, I think I have found a great nanny for her that will watch her at the house. I did a test run at the house this week and I think it worked out pretty well - what do you guys think?


We got Miss Samantha a BebePod seat the other day so she can start learning/practicing how to sit up on her own. She's doing great in it, but she's doing the "gangsta lean"



We hope you all have a HAPPY 2009!